


The Legend of Zelda: Blood of the Goddess

by justifyingReality413



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Ganon and Ganondorf are two separate entities, Gen, Mild Gore, Misgendering, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Male Character, TriforceSwap, Zelda's POV, and you play as him, chapters will be rewritten cuz i need to learn how to not post my first drafts, only cuz at the beginning he hasn't quite realized he's a dude yet, zelda is the boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-01 19:41:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16771609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justifyingReality413/pseuds/justifyingReality413
Summary: This time, things are different. The Calamity is a mindless beast, albeit a powerful one, and Link, full of Courage, goes to kill it like an old animal in sore need of a coup de grâce. The Sword, however, seals both the Calamity and the Hero in stone.Across Hyrule, at that same moment, the energy released from the Calamity infects and corrupts every Guardian, every monster, every dragon in the world, and Zelda takes a laser to the chest.It is not the stone-sealed hero awaking in the shrine this time. This time, things are different.





	1. Awakening

You awaken.

You're lying-- no, floating, in cold water. You're wearing the dress you've hated from the moment it first touched your body(it's barely keeping you warm, even with the summer sun hot enough to melt the snow further down the mountain) and the sandals (which you could bear, if they gave you fewer blisters) and the bracelets(which you do actually like, a little), and the necklace(which you like even more. It's just a necklace, with your family's symbol. Everybody wears necklaces).

As you recall, you were here, at the moment the sun set, praying for Wisdom from Nayru as to what to _do_. The Calamity was returning, your father forbade you to do anything other than pray and practice your sealing powers, and Link was just _gone_ and didn't even tell you. Impa said he'd set off for the Spring of Courage, deep in Faron, to beg advice from Farore.

You keep praying.

-

It seems he got his advice, since he came back and talked to you about going off to fight Ganon before he truly gained his power, heading off with the other four Champions. "Stay here, please," he'd said, with his voice and not his hands, which truly struck home how serious he was about this. "You and Impa should stay safe, in case."

"Link," you'd started, "if neither the Three Golden Ones nor Hylia can keep us safe, I don't know what can."

He'd frowned then, at your heresy, but you did have _reason_ to not put as much of your faith into Them as the average citizen of Hyrule. "Promise me you'll stay alive?"

"Only if you'll promise me the same," you'd said. He'd nodded, dismounting off of his horse and pulling you into a tight hug.

You kissed his cheek. Now, you're wishing you'd done more than that, demanded that he stay, or kissed him more. _Thank you, Nayru._

\--

It's sunset once more. Link is long gone, and from the mountain you see the Divine Beasts preparing to take aim. Your thoughts turn to Link, to Urbosa, Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Link once more, and you beg to Hylia, to Nayru, to the other two goddesses of the Triforce that they'll stay safe, and more importantly, alive.

You glance up at the sky above, having been so lost in prayers that you hadn't noticed hours go by. From the corner of your eye, you see Impa's shadow through the fabric of the tent she'd brought, illuminated by your bow within. You look up, leaning back and floating in the water, watching as the stars glimmered far above you, and then--

You see Naydra, blessed dragon spirit of Nayru, of Wisdom, passing over the sky above you. She even looks down at you! This had to be a sign, of something good. You gasp, watching her path above, watching as she twists and turns, circling the moon.

And then the moon goes blood red, and Naydra screams.

\---

You can do nothing but watch as the Calamity befalls the dragon, covering her scales in red-tinted malice. She screams, again, and so do you, now watching through her eyes and twisting, coiling, seeing the evil coating the great dragon's body start to _open,_ revealing more eyes than you've ever seen in your life. There's too many of them, and you nearly gag as they stare back at your(Naydra's) eyes.

There are too many glowing red, horrid blinking eyes, and then Naydra goes blind and you watch with your own eyes as one large, evil-looking one appears over her head, and stares you down.

Everything is frozen for a moment, and the _thing_ in Naydra's body growls at you, its large eye glowing blue like you've seen the Guardians' eyes do, and for a second you hear Impa screaming too and a sound that feels like her, pulling back your bow and aiming at the beast.

You raise your hand, like you _know_ how to; muscle memory from another lifetime, another Zelda, one who could actually summon and use the light that seals the darkness--

And nothing happens. The mark of the Triforce on your hand doesn't glow, doesn't warm, doesn't do anything.

And then a beam of horrible, evil light, just like the Guardians' beams, passes directly through your chest as you float in the water.

You can hear Impa drop your bow, run to catch you, and all you can think is "now I won't have to wear this thing anymore" as she picks you up, saying something you can't quite hear about the Shrine of Resurrection, and then the world goes silent.

\--- -

You awaken.

You're lying-- no, floating, in warm water. You're wearing the dress you've hated from the moment it first touched your body(it's barely keeping you covered, unlaced and loosened and slid down a little bit, but your undergarments are completely in place) and the sandals (which you could bear, if they gave you fewer blisters) and the bracelets(which you do actually like, a little). The necklace is gone, though. A shame.

Of course, now your attention moves away from your necklace, and towards every other piece of your attire. You're _scared,_ for a moment, and who wouldn't be if they awoke in a strange glowing pool with their clothes bedraggled and undone, and a gaping hole in their--

Wait. You stand, carefully, and move your hand to your sternum. There's nothing, nothing but the faint dried traces of blood on your dress to remind you of the _corrupted dragon's Guardian-laser-like blast through the chest you took._ At least, until your hand moves up, and you feel metal. Looking down into the pool, you see that the golden symbol of your family has been burned, branded, by the blast, melting the symbol into your chest. The chain that the golden piece hung from is down at your feet in the pool, and you take it. Maybe you'll sell it later.

Later, of course, means that you need to get out of here, and get some clothes that aren't ruined, not necessarily in that order. You shed your outer dress. The undergarments are more comfortable on their own, anyways. Maybe Impa left some clothes for you to change into-- Impa. She'd be so worried, wouldn't she?

Looking around the room, you find a pedestal with the Sheikah slate in it. You take it, simply holding it for--

A door, one you hadn't noticed yet, opens behind the pedestal. You go in, and this next room is littered with chests and crates, and a note in Impa's unmistakable handwriting.

_Zelda---  
It might take years for the shrine of resurrection to revive you. You died._

_I will be in Kakariko Village, Purah in Hateno. Our friend Robbie will be north of Akkala._

_Find us.  
Impa_

You open the chests, and they are full of your more comfortable clothes, the ones you wore when riding out on missions and finding shrines and hiding from your dad. In the crates, there are apples, arrows, standard soldier's rations, and a bag, embroidered with a Sheikah eye, which holds... all of it. It seems like you could even hop inside it.

You don't, though. You might not be able to get out. Instead, you simply change into the cleanest clothes you can find-- your good leggings and your nice blue-and-white shirt, which does indeed cover your-- well, it isn't quite a necklace anymore. You'll settle for calling it a mark, you think--

**Hold the Sheikah Slate up to the pedestal. That will show you the way.**

You nearly start at the unfamiliar voice coming from the slate, and do so. 

**Authenticating...  
Sheikah Slate confirmed.**

Another door opens, daylight shining through. You step forward, and the voice speaks again.

**Zelda, you are the light-- our light-- that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now go...**

And you do go, up the steps and through the door. You climb the rock wall where there aren't steps, and you run through the grass, to the edge of a cliff.

It overlooks the Great Plateau, and you look around-- there's your beloved castle, there's Death Mountain in the distance... it's breathtaking.

It's only a beautiful and peaceful sight for a moment, however, as a red glare shines from within your castle. The Calamity roars, and another light, teal this time, shines back.

"Link," you whisper to yourself, and the lights both glow intensely enough to make you look away-- and then they're gone.

The light still blinds you for a moment, and you see through Link's eyes now-- through them twice. Once is the Link that you know and trust, the other is another, a child clad in green with a baton, of all things, at his side. Both of them hold the Sword, glowing blue, and raise it, jump, and stab two different bloody figures(one a Gerudo, a man-- this can only be the Ganondorf who the Calamity once was? Nobody else could have a presence such as his-- and the other the Calamity, spiderlike and primal, a mindless monster). The Sword, in both overlapping memories, goes straight through Ganon(and Ganondorf's) forehead, and at the point of penetration it is not blood that issues forth from the wound, but stone. The Hero, the Man, and the Monster are frozen in Time as statues, unresponsive to all.

You come back to yourself, and in your hands now is a familiar bow, glowing faintly green when the sunlight hits it. As you look away, you can almost see an emblem glowing brighter out of the corner of your eye, but you look back and it is gone, and the bow is only glowing the familiar golden you've known it to.

"That settles it, then," you mutter to yourself. "I cannot be the sealing princess, can I? Link's sealed it." You sling your bow across your back, and stare at the top of Hyrule Castle, where a statue sleeps in the Sanctum.

"I will be the Hero this time."


	2. Plateau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i made an entirely new profile on my family's switch so i could replay the beginning of botw for the dialogue yall
> 
> i had most of this written n then got stuck oops sorry for not getting this up earlier!
> 
> i also made a few edits to ch 1 ouo

"I will be the Hero this time."

\--- --

You sit, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, and eat an apple from your rations. You've gathered some mushrooms too, pleased to know you can accurately identify them, even without the Slate at full functionality.

You feel completely alone, for the first time in your life, and it's rather freeing, you think to yourself as you watch the clouds. One in the shape of a korok makes you laugh, and you watch it through the sky--

Wait. You stand, draw your bow. Of course, you don't have any of the arrows it shot before, beams of purifying light, and you aren't too sure about your aim with _real_ arrows, but it makes you feel safer holding it at the ready. Had that man been there before, and you simply hadn't noticed him? Or...

You take a breath, confident that you could fight a singular Yiga on your own with your bow, and walk down the path towards him.

Or, you start down. The voice, the one you heard before, speaks again.

**Zelda, head for the point marked on the map of your Sheikah Slate.**

The voice is familiar, but you can't quite place it, nor the expression on the old man's face as you approach him.

"Oho, well met, stranger," he says, and you feel intensely that he isn't one. "It's rather unusual to see another soul in these parts."

"It is," you agree, "and may I ask who you are?"

He frowns for a second, before smiling again. It's too familiar for your comfort. "Me? I'll spare you my life story. I'm just an old fool who's lived up here, alone, for quite some time now." He pauses, and sits up, leaning on his walking stick for assistance. "What brings a bright-eyed young lady like yourself to a place like this?"

"Where are we?" you ask, playing dumb. It would help you to gain as much knowledge about your surroundings as you could, especially seeing as how you'd only ever visited the Plateau's base before.

"Answering a question with a question." He tilts his head. "That's fair enough. I can't imagine that we met by simple coincidence, so I shall tell you."

He waves his arm out in an arc, and you look around. "This is the Great Plateau. According to legend, this is the birthplace of the entire kingdom of Hyrule." He points, and you walk past him, around the rock wall, and you gasp--

"That temple there... long ago, it was the cite of many sacred ceremonies. Ever since the decline of the kingdom 100 years ago, it has sat abandoned, in a state of decay." Wait, what had he just said? "Yet another forgotten entity, a mere ghost of its former self..."

You stand there, flabbergasted, and luckily the old man simply smiles. "I shall be here for some time. If you need assistance, I shall be happy to help." You watch as he sits back down by his fire, smiling.

You step forwards, and stop as you nearly hit something-- a baked apple? The old man glares at you for a second, but he does let you take it, along with a torch leaning against the wall.

Making your way down, you find an axe as well, and you take it. It would be smart to become proficient in melee combat, as well as ranged.

Reminded of the voice, you pull your Sheikah Slate from its place on your belt and open its map.

There is nothing on it, save for the Shrine of Resurrection and a little yellow dot, which you can only assume is the point that the voice told you to go to.

It looks to be guarded by some bokoblins, but you manage to sneak past them easily. The glowing point takes you to a hill, or-- what looks to be a hill. You climb into a crack in it, and drop down to see a pedestal just like the ones inside the Shrine.

The voice directs you to put the Sheikah Slate in it, and you do. **"Sheikah tower activated,"** the voice says, **"please watch for falling rocks."**

The ground shakes, and you sit carefully, and the almost-cave you're in starts to shrink and you close your eyes tightly.

\--- ---

You feel it, as you lift into the sky. You can feel it as your stomach drops to where you were, and you open one eye. For some reason, you have the thought that raising into the sky is a familiar one, and then everything is still. You stand, hearing the voice say it is **"distilling local information,"** and you look around.

It's beautiful. You can't get enough of the view, and you walk around all sides of the tower, looking around. The Slate glows, and ejects from the pedestal; **"regional map extracted,"** proclaims the voice. You take the slate, and watch as part of the map fills itself in again. Would you have to activate other towers like this until the map was whole again? Goddess, that would take _forever._

You make your way carefully down the tower, startled as a voice calls at you from the sky.

The old man glides down to you, and you can only watch. "My, my," he says, "it would seem we have quite the enigma here."

You wait for him to continue, and he does. "This tower and others like it have erupted across the land, one after the other. It is almost," he pauses, a twinkle in his eye reminding you of someone you can't quite place, "almost as though a long-dormant power has awoken quite suddenly. If you don't mind me asking," he adds, and you stand at attention. "Did anything odd occur while you were atop that tower?"

You take a breath, and hope that trusting this stranger won't end up horrible for you. "I heard a voice," you say.

"A voice!" He looks astonished. "And did you happen to recognize this voice?" You, truthfully, shake your head no. "Well, that's unfortunate. While you were up there, I assume you caught sight of that atrocity enshrouding the castle." You turn, and nod.

"That's the Calamity, isn't it?"

He nods. "One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin. It appeared suddenly, and destroyed everything in its path. So many innocent lives were lost in its wake." He pauses, and you _know_ what he's going to say next. The princess failed to seal it, it's all her fault, the poor knight was frozen, the land had no protector, it's _all Zelda's fault--_

What he does say surprises you. "The princess's Champion, her knight, rushed to defend Hyrule with the sword that seals the darkness. What rumors I've heard from up here have said he did seal it, along with himself." Your face remains composed-- you knew this, from your little vision, but the news still upsets you.

"For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, Hyrule Castle, has managed to contain the sealed hero and the evil, but just barely. There, the evil festers, building its strength for the moment it will unleash its blight upon the land once again." He pauses, glancing to your face before continuing. "It would appear that moment is fast approaching. I must ask you, courageous one... do you intend to make your way to the castle?"

You pause. Link has always been the courageous one, you the wise one. That was how the Triforce worked, wasn't it? Three sides, Courage and Wisdom and Power. There was never a time when Ganon did not wield Power, never a time when you were not the Wise Princess, never a time when Link was not the Courageous Hero.

"I do," you say, for this is a different time now.

"I had a feeling you would say that," the old man says. "Here, on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs, with no way down. If you were to try to jump off, well." He clears his throat, looking out beyond the walls. "No death could be more certain, or more foolish. Of course, if you had a paraglider like mine, that would be quite another story."

The talk turning to technology intrigues you, and you tilt your head. "A paraglider?" you ask, thinking that this must be the device he floated down with earlier. You hadn't ever seen one before, but to think-- if archers, armed with these, could be stationed atop the castle walls and jump off, gliding, and shoot from midair like Revali--

"Oho! Piqued your interest, have I? Yes, I didn't come soaring down here on my own feathery wings, you know! Worry not, I'll give it to you, but not for nothing." You mentally roll your eyes, disappointed that he interrupted your train of thought, but nod.

"Let's see, now. How about I trade it to you for a bit of treasure that slumbers nearby?" You nod again, and he smiles. "Let me show you something," he says, before turning and walking off.

You follow quickly, and the two of you walk up to the crest of a little hill formed by the tower's eruption from the earth. "Do you see that structure there?" he asks, pointing with his walking stick. "The one shining with an orange light?"

You do-- you're reminded of how infuriated you were when you couldn't get inside one. "It began glowing at the exact moment those towers rose up from the ground. I would think such a place might house some kind of treasure, wouldn't you?" He chuckles, looking down to you. "Treasure for the paraglider. A fair exchange, I believe."

You nod, and turn-- you have work on your hands, and hopefully the shrine will open to you this time.

Once you're there, your slate registers it as the Oman Au shrine. You hold the slate up to yet another pedestal, and this time it glows-- **"Slate confirmed. Accessing shrine,"** the voice says, and you could nearly weep in relief as the bars swing back and reveal-- nothing. Nothing but a little circle on the floor, marked with the Sheikah eye.

But-- wait. There were little portals like these inside the divine beasts, weren't there? Hylia, you hope so, and that you aren't looking at the symbol upside-down and that this is a Yiga deathtrap.

You step forwards, step onto the circle, and sit down and pray.

The circle, and you sitting atop it, descend.

\--- --- -


	3. Magnesis

The circle, and you sitting atop it, descend.

\--- --- -

"To you who sets foot in this shrine," you hear once the circle has landed, "in the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer you this trial."

You look around, and there are two large metal slabs over the floor, a gate blocking your way forward, and yet another pedestal. You place the slate in, and the now-familiar voice echoes **"Sheikah Slate authenticated. Distilling rune..."**

Except, you don't know what that means, and you watch the slate and pedestal. It looks the same as the map did, but... hmm. **"Rune extracted."**

You take the slate, and push the button that looks like a glowing red horseshoe.

The closer metal slab lifts in the air, moving as you move the Slate. Of course-- you look down at the Slate, inspecting this... Magnesis rune. That wasn't there the first time you held it in your hands, you note, and step forwards, moving the metal slab out of the way.

Under it, of course, is a ladder and a passageway, proceeding forward where the gate had blocked you up above.

You walk through, and a wall of metal and stone blocks hampers your progress. You use magnesis to knock them all down with a smile, idly noting how much fun this is, and-- wait. Is that a--?

It _is_ a Guardian, and you hide before it can see you. Hmm. Could this tool, this-- according to the slate, this _rune--_ be used as a weapon?

You're embarrassed you didn't simply take your bow and shoot the Guardian in the eye, but of course, it _is_ fun smacking it with the metal block.

You walk forwards, across another metal slab, and turn to move it across over another gap. They are over water, of course, so it won't kill you to fall in, but you'd have to swim back to the beginning.

Two very big metal doors stand at the end of the little hallway, and you pull them open with the magnesis rune, and walk through.

In what you can only describe as a square glass coffin, there sits a Sheikah monk. A very dead, desiccated Sheikah monk.

The front of the glass square is decorated with the Sheikah eye, and you can't resist the urge to touch it. As you do, the glass wavers, and then is gone in a flash of blue light.

"You have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero," the monk says, and you very nearly scream. "I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial. I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of Goddess Hylia and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat Ganon. With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled."

It's then that you realize that the dead monk is not, of course, actually speaking. "In the name of the goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you... please accept this Spirit Orb."

A purple glowing orb seems to emerge from the monk's stomach, and go forward, into your chest. "How," you start to say, but the monk vanishes in teal light, and so do you.

\--- --- --

You emerge onto the Great Plateau, looking up to see the sun set, and then to see the old man paragliding down in front of you.

"It appears you managed to get your hands on a Spirit Orb," he says. "Well done!"

You narrow your eyes, looking up at his face. "How did you know?" you ask, hoping that it doesn't sound as rude as it does in your ears.

"Clairvoyance!" He says, and you just barely resist the urge to smack yourself in the face. Of course it would be something like that. "Or perhaps just something similar," he adds.

"As one gets older, it can become more difficult to see what is right in front of one's own eyes... However," he continues, "that which was once hidden from view can often be crystal clear. But perhaps that is not true for everyone! Oho ho!" You're very glad, of course, that you've had lessons in schooling your expression to not look as bored as you feel. "The appearance of those towers and the awakening of this shrine... It is all connected to that Sheikah slate you carry on your hip there."

"What do you mean?" you ask, an alarm sounding in your head.

"It has been quite some time since I have seen that Sheikah slate..." He points, and you turn, looking up at the Sheikah eye. "Long ago, a highly advanced tribe known as the Sheikah inhabited these lands. The great power of their wisdom saved the kingdom time and time again."

It's nothing you haven't heard before from Impa, and you turn back to the old man. "But their ancient technology disappeared long ago, or so it is said. It is interesting, however, to think... how something like that has survived all this time, hidden away in a shrine."

You have a sudden thought that perhaps he is talking about you. "These shrines are tucked away in numerous places across the land," he continues. "On this plateau alone, I beliee there are still three more. Bring me the treasures from each of those shrines, and I will give you my paraglider."

You let your expression slip into a frown. "So, I need more of this unspecified treasure now?" you say. "Treasure which you seem to know everything, and I know nothing, about?"

"I said 'treasure,' but I never said there would be only one treasure," the old man says, with a frown that feels like you're looking in a mirror. "Whether it's one treasure or four, what's the difference for a young go-getter like yourself?"

You bite the inside of your lip, and shrug. He's right, of course. It's not like there's anything else you can do without the paraglider. "Since I'm feeling generous, I will also teach you a trick for finding shrines. It's always best to survey the area by looking around from a high point. Let's see here... how about you make your way to the top of that tower again?"

You want to ask him if he's joking, but you just nod. "Allow me to teach you something else before you go," he adds. "Take a look at the map on your Sheikah Slate."

You do. "See those blue icons? You should recognize the cave where you woke, the shrine you came from, and the tower. You can travel instantly to any of those places with the slate."

Well, that's new. "Or so I heard, quite some time ago," he says. "I don't know if it actually works as such."

\--- --- ---

The old man is already atop the tower once you've teleported there with the aid of the Sheikah slate. "You certainly took your time," he says with a smile. "Did you forget how to fast travel?"

You shake your head. "No, I remember," you say, and you get the feeling that perhaps he wasn't expecting you to.

He smiles, though. "Now then," he starts, "I wanted you to join me up here so you could use this as a vantage point to search for shrines. Did you know about the scope on your sheikah slate? Look through it, and you can stick a pin anywhere you'd like to mark on the map. The pins serve as reference points for your travels."

"How do you know?" you ask, for the Nth time. You know you won't get a real answer. And you don't; he laughs his laugh. "Just a few tricks I've picked up after many, many years in the wild... you may take my advice or leave it," he says. "Go ahead and take a look if you feel inclined to do so."

You do, of course, and you pin the shrines that you see. One of them is down near the first one you visited, while the other two are up on the mountain. It seems you have a lot of work ahead of you.

\--- --- --- -

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading ajhfjdhadfkghdf, please tell me if you like it! i've had a few triforceswap ideas in my head for a while :D


End file.
